No it never occurred to me that God would keep something as important as the Trinity a mystery. Something that is openly admitted by theologians that is not known by many Christians is that the doctrine of the Trinity is not stated in the Scriptures, but is actually “built” by piecing together statements that are said to support it. Since most Christians believe the Trinity is a mystery and not to be understood is a huge reason why doctrinal discussions about it are often avoided or brushed aside and ignored. Worse, the teaching that the Trinity is a “mystery” has been used as a club to beat down doubters and dissenters, and those people are often branded as “heretics” and their role in Christianity minimized.
Ah
@Peterlag,
For myself I never questioned the validity of the Trinity because when I was first going to confirmation classes I remember them talking and handing out papers and they may have issued bible verses to study , but the Trinity was taught in relationship to Jesus being the Son.... I never felt it was was some later invention that the Bible never actually says.
Even when I got interesting in reading the bible I never gave it a thought because there are words other then the Trinity and Bible that simply are not in there. So I started to read the bible... at work... and was told I could not understand what I was reading without a guide but I was slow... and I was allowed... and it still bever occurred to me with all the churches around like the Trinity United Methodist etc because it was always in from of my face.
But someone brought up a non belief and I kept right on in my self-studying (long before computers, or search assists, or even Ai... and did not have a Stongs at work but my mind was alert to things I had heard... things that did not make sense... such as
the boss who was predestined believing... NOT Calvin... who said everyone will be saved.... I asked even Hitler... and he said he believed so. And this one was one with very wandering hands in the work place... (I will explain no further) and I knew his wife well.... and for far too long it was almost a daily thing to fight him off... but he was certain of going to heaven....
So once when I saw it .... it is
right on the surface of the text, not hidden at all.
Here are five of the clearest places that leave no room for doubt. (no piecing together required):
1. Matthew 28:19“Go therefore and make disciples… baptizing them
in the name [singular]
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” One name (one God), yet three distinct Persons listed. Remember, I asked you why Jesus would have instructed this with the 3 of them in the important sacrament of Baptism.............
2. 2 Corinthians 13:14“The grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with you all.”.... Paul puts all three on the same level in a single blessing. I think we should change the name of the bible to Paul's book. At least his name is in there.
3. John 1:1 + 1:14“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word
was God… And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us.”→ The Son is
with God (distinct) and
is God (same being).
4. John 10:30 + 10:33Jesus: “
I and the Father are one.” Jews picked up stones: “You, being a man,
make yourself God.”→ Jesus claimed full deity; the Jews understood perfectly.
5. John 14–16(Jesus’ own words)
The Father sends the Son (14:24–26)
The Son prays to the Father (17:1–5)
The Father and Son send the Spirit (15:26; 16:7)
The Spirit glorifies the Son (16:14)→ Real personal interaction that only makes sense with three distinct Persons.
The word “Trinity” isn’t in the Bible (just like “omnipotence” or “incarnation” aren’t), but the
reality is taught on page after page. The early church didn’t invent it — they simply put one word on what the Scriptures already shout.
And yes, exactly
how one God is three Persons is a mystery — but
that one God is three Persons is
not a mystery; it’s what the Bible plainly says.
